~X~

~ One Week Later - July 3, 2009~

Okay…

Inspired Inventor is so broken, even with the Nerf in v17. There are so many tinker specialties and themes I can invest in that it's not even funny.

I've already invested in Pocket Dimensions and Interdimensional Tech. I invested in Miniaturization and Efficiency which I mentioned I would do before.

I invested in Medicine, and that opened up a huge field. I can now cure AIDS and cancer if I have the right tools. I can create drugs that temporarily increase one's physical abilities with no side effects and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

I spent some points on Software. It applied to so many things for computers and gave me more ideas on Cyberpunk tech.

I put some points into Drones so I had more variety than what was in Cyberpunk.

Finally, I put points more points into Interdimensional Tech again to get some amazing teleportation tech.

And I gained all of this knowledge in just one week.

Again, Inspired Inventor is so broken.

.

Moving on. I haven't moved out of the Cabin Room I woke up in yet. I still want to stay off the radar. While I had invested the necessary points to make my pocket dimension, I didn't have the resources to do it, yet.

I also started working on my chakra, and… I may have underestimated some upgrades I took. The Six Paths Senjutsu upgrade, on top of the mental encyclopedia of jutsu, basically turned me into an Otsutsuki. I was incredibly strong, had immense chakra reserves, insane speed, reaction speed, and I healed quickly, to where I could get cut in half and I'd fully heal from it.

I never noticed my insane physical abilities until I punched a ship in frustration and it destroyed the wall. The reason I never noticed was because of the Holding Back Perk that allowed me to perfectly control how much damage I wanted to do. I could punch someone in the head with all my strength and, if I wanted it to, it would only do minimum damage.

Slug of the Sannin gave me the Strength of a Hundred Seal, and, most of all, perfect chakra control. But… more importantly…

I held up my hand as a ball of chakra spun in multiple directions at the same time formed above my palm. I had to laugh in excitement again as the Rasengan glowed.

I bought some balloons to practice and easily learned it thanks to the perfect chakra control. It was the easiest to learn for me since it didn't require hand signs.

Apparently, I really do need someone or something, like an actual book, to teach me how to use chakra more because no matter how hard I try, I can't mold my chakra the way I want to use jutsu because I don't have an understanding of doing such a thing.

Hence, learning the Rasengan since it was just shape manipulation and not turning my chakra into different elements.

*DING*

I looked down to see that I got a message.

Oh, right, I never mentioned this. Well, just like my cyberdeck, I leaned on my Cyberpunk power to build and program a cell phone.

The message was from my stealth drone. It was the only one I had as the materials I needed to make it were rather advanced. I had gotten lucky finding some precious metal in one of the cargo containers, but it took a lot to make the drone. I used the rest to make a small device that gave me access to a small pocket dimension to hold a lot of stuff. Think of it as a technological version of a Bag of Holding. I think I'll call it the Tech Bag.

…I'm not good with names.

Anyway, stealth drone.

Remember when I mentioned possibly raiding the Merchants? Yeah, I'm putting that plan into motion. I narrowed down the location of one of their stash houses in the docks. The stealth drone would do the rest and had some advanced scanners to help find it.

…And it seems it did.

I grabbed my Tech Bag, strapped my cyberdeck over my shoulder, and holstered the Silenced Unity handgun I built. I put on a neck gaiter, pulled up my hood, and headed to where the ping was in my cell phone map.

~X~

Using a combination of Flowmotion, and Stealth Mode, I quickly made it to a rooftop across the block from the stash house. The house itself was pretty unassuming, just by looking at it you couldn't tell it held drugs, guns, and money.

It didn't look like anyone was in there, but a quick look using my cyberdeck showed there were some cell phones in there I could hack. Hacking into one of them gave me some info on the gang in there.

Oh? Looks like they're waiting for a text from some guy for a meetup. I easily spoofed the number they were waiting for and sent a text. A couple of minutes later, three guys exited the house, hopped in a car, and left.

Taking a quick look to make sure the coast was clear, I hopped off the roof and blurred across the street to the house. I used my chakra to wall-walk up the side to a window on the second floor. I tested it and, as I thought, it was unlocked. People tend to not lock their second-floor windows.

I went in as quietly as I could and searched the house from top to bottom. No one was around, so I searched for their stash. It was pretty easy to find. It was in the basement, out in the open. So, I grabbed cash, drugs, and guns that weren't nailed down and put it all in my Tech Bag. Then I hightailed it out of there.

I think I got lucky. All of this stuff, after I sell all of it in the Multiversal Marketplace, should get me enough money to get the materials I need to get me my own Pocket Dimension.

~X~

~ Two Weeks Later - July 17, 2009 ~

A lot can happen in two weeks. I was sitting in front of my newly built computer, inside my newly built house, inside of my newly built pocket dimension, keeping a close eye on Coil.

My constant raiding of gang safe houses and hacking their bank accounts brought me a lot of money. Thank God I took Multiversal Marketplace. It made selling this stuff and buying the materials for tinkering really easy.

It didn't take long for me to get the materials to teleport myself into a pocket dimension. The dimension itself was pretty nice. It was a nice clearing right next to an enormous lake and a forest in the distance.

I had enough money to hire Big Rig from Toybox to help build a house here. It was a very nice one-story house about 2500 sq ft. It had a living room, kitchen, dining room, four bedrooms, three bathrooms, garage, and a screen porch and back porch that had a marvelous view of the lake. But it cost me all the money I gathered.

Although, the house was pretty empty on the inside. I haven't had the time or money to buy furniture. I had a simple bed and the room I would use as my computer room had tables. As for power, I had put some points into Marvel Tech and made my own Arc Reactor. It was kind of small, not at all like the one that powered Stark Tower, but it was enough to power the electricity in my house for years.

Toybox offered a lifetime discount if I built one for them too when they realized how long it would last. I could make something more powerful with my specializations, but there was no need to overdo it for them. I told them I'd do it when I had the material.

Interdimensional Tech helped me connect my computers to Earth Bet's internet from here and upgrade my cyberdeck.

Cyberpunk once more put in the work as I made my own computer and programmed my own OS for it. I even made some goggles and tools that let someone 'ganic like me dive into the NET. Think of it like the Animus but for the NET.

Using that and my netrunning skills, it was easy to stealthily locate and hack into Coil's systems. I had full control of it and had access to all his files, Which included mercenary files, secret base locations, blackmail on others, plans, etc.

I also used his backdoors into the PRT's system to get into that too. However, I was a bit more careful with that since Dragon was connected to that system. As long as I keep to Coil's backdoors I should be fine, she never found those.

Also, did I mention Inspired Inventor was broken? I'm pretty sure I did, but it bears repeating. I put more points into themes like Fallout and Star Wars; the former because I wanted knowledge of nuclear fusion and engineering, and the latter because I wanted a lightsaber. I could easily get the Kyber Crystals from the Multiversal Marketplace but I don't have the money for it.

Actually, that's a big weakness of mine right now. Give me a year or two and Inspired Inventor will let me solve all the big problems on Earth Bet while making sure those problems stay solved. But the biggest issue I have is that to make the stuff, I need money.

I could just keep stealing from the gangs or Coil, maybe even move on to Gesellschaft and The Elite, but I needed a source of clean money.

…Actually… Maybe I can do what Coil does and start a business.

…What kind of business though?

Something that obviously plays into my strengths… which is technology. But NEPEA-5 will make it extremely hard to sell tech I could make, even if they won't break down anywhere near as fast as Tinker powers, for example, the Arc Reactor.

Although… It's not like my tech is actually Tinkertech. It's just that humanity doesn't know enough yet to understand the tech. Maybe I can use Inspired Inventor to get a Fallout specialization and patent nuclear technology and engineering.

It could work… but I have no business knowledge. Maybe I could make an AI for that.

*DING*

That was my phone. I checked to see that it was a message from Big Rig.

Big Rig: Hey, I just got out of a talk with everyone else. We all agreed to your deal.

What he was talking about was something I offered Toybox. When Big Rig was helping me build my house, I was moving in the material I had so far. Some of that was exotic material I got from the Multiversal Marketplace and you couldn't get it on Earth Bet.

So, of course, he asked where I got it. I lied a bit and told them I accidentally connected to the said place as I tested my dimensional tech. They believed that since they assumed I had a power similar to Dodge since I built something that gave me access to my own pocket dimension.

I then offered to act as a middleman between them and the Marketplace so they could buy material for an increase in the cost as my fee as the middleman. Of course, they tried to get me to tell them a way for them to access the Marketplace directly. I didn't know what to say to turn them down but ROB of all people contacted me directly so he could talk them down.

He acted as a representative of the Marketplace and talked about how exclusive it was. That the only way they'd get access to it was through me.

So, Toybox stopped asking for a direct line, and we started haggling my fee as the middleman. Eventually, I argued it to 10% for purchases under $100,000 and 5% for purchases over $100,000.

I opened my phone to text back to Big Rig.

Zero: Got it. I'll start setting up a catalog for you guys.

Big Rig: Sounds good.

Big Rig: By the way, I got a hacking job for you.

Zero: Send me the detes.

.

He sent the details, and it looked like someone was withholding payment from Toybox. It said that Toybox tried to be reasonable but the client was making up stuff that was wrong with the product and giving Toybox the runaround. They're tired of it, want me to hack into the person's bank account, and take the money they're owed plus interest.

I nodded, it was simple enough. I texted back I'd take the job and turned to my computer to look up this guy based on the info they gave me.

At the same time, I thought about what kind of business I can make.

~X~

~ One Week Later -July 17, 2009 ~

"A video game company?" I said.

Dodge shrugged. I finished the Marketplace catalog for Toybox a couple of days ago, and today they sent a list of who wanted what along with payment. I ordered the items and, as always, it was delivered an hour later. I contacted Dodge to pick up their order in my pocket dimension.

"Yeah, a video game company," Dodge said. "The games that exist are pretty boring, and boredom is never a good thing for a Tinker."

"Or for people in general," I added.

"Yup," Dodge got out a device he placed on their delivery.

I thought it over. A video game company sounds like a good idea.

The games in Bet are just bad, especially after Leviathan sank Kyushu and the Japanese economy crashed. That meant none of the great JRPGs and companies like Square Enix, Bandai, Konami, and even Nintendo went bankrupt. There were still familiar games that were imported from Aleph, but those were mediocre at best.

…And I do have the Emulator along with Comprehensive Media.

I'll need to make a lot of VIs or AIs because making the games I'd want to would take a couple hundred people. I could easily fill the positions I need with VIs.

But what do I do about the business side of things? Do I make a lawyer AI? I'd need to make them a body. That means making androids. I should probably make a secretary too.

…This could work.

"All right, finished!" Dodge called out.

He pressed a button, and the pallets of materials disappeared in a flash.

"Pleasure doing business," I said.

"Yup, here's your fee," Dodge handed me a book. "I don't know why you'd wave away your 10% for a manga. I mean, it's pretty good but I don't think it's worth $9,000, even if the ones from Aleph are better than the ones here."

"I've been wanting to get my hands on this for a while," I took the manga. "Trust me, nine grand is a steal for me to get this,"

Dodge shrugged in response. "Until next time, Zero."

He hit a button on his device and disappeared in a flash.

I look down at the title of the biggest prize since I came here.

Naruto

~X~

~ Three Days Later - July 30, 2009, 9 PM ~

I sighed as I walked around the city. I've spent more time in my pocket dimension than I have in Brockton Bay. The only time I went out was to get groceries, but that soon stopped when I realized I could buy groceries from the Marketplace.

I was a bit afraid that I might spend so much time alone that I wouldn't want to leave my house. But this walk around town made me realize I don't know anyone here. Well, the only people I know are those in Toybox and that's just a business relationship, nothing personal. And even then it's just Dodge I interact with now since he's the one who picks up their deliveries.

"Hm?"

I was walking past an alley, and something in it caught my attention. There was a car toward the other end of it, stopped just before some trash bins in the middle of it. But there was movement in the headlights of the car that looked like a scuffle. It was hard to tell since all I could see were silhouettes.

I pulled up my hood and neck gaiter and quietly moved down the alley keeping to the shadows. Eventually, I got close enough to see a man lying in pain on the ground while two guys were holding the arms of a teenage girl.

I took a better look at the area and there were six people; the man on the ground, the girl who I assume is the man's daughter based on her screaming, and the four in ABB colors.

So, gang violence then.

A woman in her early twenties, who looked to be the leader of this group, wiped up the blood on her knuckles on the fallen man's shirt. She then pulled out a knife and talked to the girl but I couldn't hear a thing she said. It was most likely threats since she held the knife up to the girl's face.

Right, I think I've seen enough.

I pulled out my Silenced Unity from my Tech Bag and used my Deadshot power to easily line up a shot and shoot the knife-holding girl in the hand.

The girl screamed as she dropped the knife and clutched her injured hand with the other one.

I rushed in and quickly knocked out the two ABB goons holding the teenager. I tossed the rock I picked up earlier at the fourth ABB and he got hit in the head and was knocked out. I finally pointed my gun at leader girl's head and she stared at it in surprise.

Then the three ABB goons hit the floor unconscious. Yeah, all this happened in less than half a second.

I let her get a good look at me then pistol-whipped her across the face, knocking her out.

I pulled out my phone and called 911.

"911. What is your emergency?" said the operator on the other side.

"In the alley between Ocean Ave and Beacon St some ABB members have attacked a man and his daughter. The ABB are unconscious. The man is injured and in need of an ambulance."

"And who is this speaking?"

I didn't answer and hung up. I didn't want to stay here longer than I needed to. As I turned to leave…

"Wait! Where are you going?" the teenage girl got from where she kneeled next to her father.

"I don't plan on being here when the police arrive," I moved to walk.

"But…" she tried to stop me but she knew she couldn't. "Well, thank you for saving us! Um, my dad's a lawyer, his name is Alan Barnes. So, if you ever need legal help…"

I stopped walking for a second when she said her father's name and turned around to get a good look at the girl.

Rather pretty for a 13-year-old and long red hair… I guess this is Emma Barnes, Taylor's best friend.

Hold on…

Emma and her father, Alley, ABB…

This is the event where Emma was supposed to meet Shadow Stalker.

I glanced up to scan the roofs for the vigilante but I didn't see anyone. I don't know if she was hiding or if she already left.

Well… I guess I messed up a canon event… But this might be for the best. While Emma went through a traumatic experience, watching her dad be beaten, it was nowhere near as bad as canon. She also didn't meet Shadow Stalker so she might not adopt her 'predator and prey' mentality.

Since that might not happen, she should still like to be friends with Taylor and that means no bullying campaign.

That might mean no Skitter which means no Khepri, but I was all right with that. I don't need Khepri to kill Zion.

But…

Well, Shadow Stalker shouldn't have a reason to interact with Emma since I intervened before Emma 'fought back' but I couldn't shake this feeling.

I hope it was nothing but maybe I should keep an eye on Emma for a while.

I heard sirens in the distance telling me I stayed too long. I gave Emma a nod and moved so fast that it looked like I disappeared to her. I moved up the roofs and reduced my speed to human levels as I used Flowmotion.

Eventually, I stopped on the flat roof of an apartment building. It was better to deal with my tail now than later.

I drew my gun and pointed it at the shadows off to my side.

…And from the shadows, a person formed.

The person was wearing a black skintight bodysuit with black-painted kneepads and gauntlets, a heavy black cloak with a hood, and a modified hockey mask. She had her hands in the air as a gesture of showing she was unarmed. Her crossbow was slung on her back.

Because of the gesture, I lowered my gun but still kept it out and in front of me, ready to raise and fire if I needed to.

"What do you want, Shadow Stalker?"

~X~

~ July 30, 10:30 PM ~

Armsmaster

Armsmaster powered off his motorcycle as he parked a short distance from the crime scene. From what little he knew at the moment, the BBPD was investigating a crime and had contacted the Protectorate for possible Parahuman involvement.

"Recording started," Armsmaster activated the recording function of his power armor's cameras.

"Everything is working, and it looks clear," Dragon said through his helmet's headset.

He ducked under the crime scene tape as an officer held it up and moved into the alley where the crime took place. He quickly saw the lead detective, someone he had worked with multiple times in the past.

"Armsmaster," Detective Hunter greeted him with a nod when he noticed him.

"Detective," Armsmaster nodded in return. "What do we have?"

"The victims are Alan Barnes and his daughter Emma Barnes. Mr. Barnes said he came down this alley because he wanted to go around the stalled traffic back on Kennedy. He said there were trash cans in the middle of the alley and he stepped out of his car to move them out of the way. That was when he was jumped by four ABB gangers. The group took the daughter hostage and the leader then beat Mr. Barnes into unconsciousness," Detective Hunter pointed out the relevant items in the alley as he explained.

Armsmaster observed the trash bins off to the side and the victim's car that was still in the middle of the alley with the driver and passenger doors still open. He noted the small amount of blood in front of the car, presumably from Mr. Barnes.

"The daughter said that after the beating the leader pulled out a knife and threatened her but, then the next thing she knew, in an instant, the leader was shot in the hand, the other three gangers were knocked out, and someone else was there pointing a gun at the leader."

Armsmaster looked at the bloodstain the detective pointed out that was from one of the perpetrators.

"Is this mystery newcomer the suspected Parahuman," Armsmaster said.

"Yeah. On top of the daughter's testimony, we have surveillance camera footage," Detective Hunter pointed to a camera that was in the middle of the alley pointed in the direction of the crime. "This person also called 911. From what we can tell, your Parahuman is a girl and sounds to be in their teens. I have a copy of the 911 call for you and a video from a surveillance camera ready to send to you."

As was said earlier, this detective had worked with Armsmaster before, so he was ready to send a data packet to his power armor's built-in database. After sending the data, Detective Hunter had to talk with some officers.

Armsmaster listened to the 911 call first, and it was indeed a female.

"Well, according to my voice analysis software, the chances are high that the caller is a girl in her mid to late teens," Dragon said.

Armsmaster nodded and moved on to the video.

He watched the footage. He saw the victims' car pull up to the trash cans and events played out as the detective described.

Then the mystery savior arrived and certainly moved faster than humanly possible. He used the video analysis programs he had installed in his armor.

"Based on build height and build, there was an 83.24% chance the person was a female in their mid to late teens," Dragon said. "That lines up with the 911 phone call."

"She was able to neutralize the gang members in 0.0145 seconds," Armsmaster said to Dragon. "Definitely a Parahuman."

Armsmaster tilted his head in curiosity when the Parahuman pistol-whipped the female gang member.

"What injuries did the female gang member sustain," he said.

Dragon pulled up a medical report that was sent with the data packet. "A gunshot wound to her right hand, minor swelling and bruising to the right side of her face, and a minor concussion."

Armsmaster hummed as he took in the information. "The injuries do not match with the actions on the screen."

"Indeed. That strike should've taken off her head," Dragon said.

"It could be a part of her power, or another power altogether," Armsmaster speculated. "Hmm, too many possibilities, not enough data… Could this person be connected to the drones spotted at the docks?"

That was more interesting to Armsmaster. It seemed there was a new Tinker in town but no matter how fast he went to the docks when they reported drones he was always too late; they were gone by the time he arrived.

He set up some surveillance devices, but they came up with nothing. It seems the Tinker moved on.

"There's no evidence to suggest such a thing," Dragon said.

"Is there anything else of note at the crime scene?"

"Well, the police found the bullet that injured the gangster, but it hit a brick wall and is too deformed to see any rifling marks. Also, they found a shell casing further down the alley for a .45 ACP bullet. It matches the caliber of the bullet"

Armsmaster hummed and thought over his options. Which… wasn't much. There just wasn't much evidence to go on. He could head back to the Rig, head to his lab to enhance the video, but…

"Console to Armsmaster."

There it is.

"This is Armsmaster."

"We have reports of Oni Lee attacking people about 5 minutes from your position."

Armsmaster was already on his motorcycle before Console finished.

Just another busy night in Brockton Bay.

~X~

Author's Note:

Chapter is done!

A one-month time skip and Amber is almost set up. Just a few more things to do before she heads into Naruto.

Inspired Inventor OP even with nerf.

As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.